Why this ride
169 km from Carlisle to Carlisle, about 2 h 58 of riding. It goes by way of Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail, Wolsty North tower 13a, Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the acce and back through Wolsty North tower 13a.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La and Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the acce
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 169 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 58
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La
Just east of Carlisle, near the village of Scotby, the Wall leaves almost no mark on the land. Here, at the western end of the Roman frontier, it was built first of turf and timber before being rebuilt in stone, and much of that stone has since been carried off to build farmhouses, churches and field walls. What survives is mostly buried, a faint line in the pasture or a slight ridge followed by a hedge. The vallum, the great earthwork that ran behind the wall, sometimes shows as a shallow trough in the fields. Yet this quiet stretch is part of the same World Heritage site as the dramatic crags further east, and walking the Hadrian's Wall Path through it gives a sense of continuity across the whole country.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La is where the day begins. Next is Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail.
2. Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail
The Solway Firth narrows at Bowness-on-Solway, a small village of whitewashed cottages on a low headland, and this is where Hadrian's Wall ended, or rather began, at its western end.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail comes up about 25 km into the recorded legs. Next is Wolsty North tower 13a.
3. Wolsty North tower 13a
Silloth is a small Victorian town on the Solway coast of Cumbria, built in the nineteenth century as a port and a seaside resort, with wide cobbled streets, a green along the seafront and views across the Solway Firth to the hills of Scotland. Just south of the town, at Wolsty, the Romans built a tower as part of the defences that extended Hadrian's Wall down the Cumbrian coast. Tower 13a was one of a chain of small towers and milefortlets, spaced along the shore to watch for raiders crossing the firth from the north.
Read the complete Wolsty North tower 13a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 56 km into the recorded legs you reach Wolsty North tower 13a. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the acce.
4. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the acce
Across the water from here lies Eastriggs, a quiet Scottish village with a loud past. During the First World War a huge munitions factory stretched for miles along the Solway coast from Gretna to Annan, and the cordite paste that women workers mixed by hand earned the nickname devil's porridge. Thousands lived in purpose-built townships, and the whole operation was kept secret. A museum in Eastriggs now tells the story. The reason the label brings us to the English shore, though, is the Roman frontier, because Hadrian's Wall did not simply stop at Bowness-on-Solway. Beyond it a chain of milefortlets and towers carried on down the Cumbrian coast, watching the sea rather than the hills.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the acce write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the acce, about halfway. Next is back through Wolsty North tower 13a.
5. back through Wolsty North tower 13a
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Wolsty North tower 13a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Wolsty North tower 13a sits at 98 km, about halfway. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail.
6. back through Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail comes up about 145 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La.
7. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La closes the day.
Leg by leg
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La to Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La → Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail to Wolsty North tower 13a
Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail → Wolsty North tower 13a is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Wolsty North tower 13a to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the acce
Wolsty North tower 13a → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the acce is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the acce to back through Wolsty North tower 13a
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the acce → back through Wolsty North tower 13a is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Wolsty North tower 13a to back through Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail
back through Wolsty North tower 13a → back through Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La
back through Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.